Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What to put at the end of a bed? That is the question. First off, I think the trick is making sure to use something with the right scale. I've seen photos before that have massively tall couches at the foot of the bed, and to me, that overwhelms the bed a little too much. I tend to like things that are a little lower or about level with the bed. Second tip: the more functional, the better! Instead of just setting something there to fill the space, think of what would be useful to have there. Storage for extra blankets? A seat to put on your shoes in the morning?

Here's some inspiration of rooms that have done a fantastic job of using this space!

{Notice how this is the 3rd Sarah Richardson pic in a row. One of my favorite designers for sure! She knows how it's done. There will no doubt be a future post devoted to Sarah Richardson's brilliant designs!}

Now that I think about it, there's actually nothing at the end of my bed right now besides my school bag. But then again, my bed at school is a twin and is pushed against the wall to save space. I bet a little stool would be cute there..hmm. Maybe I'll be looking for one of those :)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I have something today that I am SO happy to finally be showing you guys. This is a project that consumed my entire fall quarter of junior year. Many, many hours went into this extensive design project. Some nights I even had the privilege of staying up until 4:30 AM cutting out each individual picture on this board and then carefully gluing them on! Such a treat, let me tell ya. But it was absolutely worth it and so rewarding in the end!

Our job was to fully design two rooms in the Seattle Design Center. My class was divided up into three teams, each doing the same project. We were given detailed instructions on what the clients wanted these spaces to include, and we were also required to choose pieces primarily from the Seattle Design Center. I'll be honest, I felt a little bit like I was on Design Star. Just a little.

The first space was a really tiny and awkward shaped room for designers to use as a lounge. Our main instructions were to incorporate an eating area, a separate seating area, and lots of storage.

Our design all started with a bookshelf. A glorious bookshelf. We first saw it while wandering through J. Garner Home, getting a tour of the Design Center. We loved it and knew we had to have it in one of our spaces. We measured first, of course, and the dimensions fit PERFECTLY for the room. It. Was. Fate. (The bookshelf can also be found at Restoration Hardware, by the way).

Finding this piece really set the tone for the rest of the space, which ended up being a mix of industrial, modern, and traditional styles. We tried to choose a lot of timeless pieces to make sure the design would last for years!

We found a traditional arm chair at MJ Interiors and chose to upholster it in a super soft herringbone print.

We found some great architectural drawings to frame as art in the room, perfect for designers!

The second space was a place for designers to come in and eat lunch or work on their design projects. The floor was concrete. The clients encouraged us to save money and keep the floors. We agreed and kept the floor but stained it bold, dark red color.

We created three workspaces with some beautiful metal desks from Dennis Miller, paired with olive colored chairs from Crate and Barrel. Above each desk was a shelf that could either display art or be switched out for the display of color boards.

The small cafe table proved to be the most challenging piece to find. We needed a table that a wheelchair could easily pull up to (between about 29-34 inches off the ground). I don't even want to know how many hours we spent searching for that table! Finally, we found a perfect adjustable height table.

Since designers would come into this room to eat their packed lunch, we incorporated a universally designed kitchenette unit with space for a microwave and miniature fridge. I loved how this elevation turned out! We chose all the finishes, which included brown quartz countertops, gray cabinets, and white subway tile. Aaand an amazing hammered metal bar sink that I kind of love and adore.

And in case you were wondering what those dashed lines are on the cabinet doors, they actually just represent the direction that the doors swing.

So there it is! My team was really happy with the end result of both rooms and we learned so much in the process.

Also, I got a peek today of some of the senior's Commercial Studio projects, which is looking like it will be 10 times more intense than this project was. An entire hotel. Dun dun dun. A little daunting. But I'll be sure to show you that whole process as I go. I can't wait!

It's not a huge process at all, I swear. Probably even faster than it would take to type out one of those obnoxious WORD VERIFICATIONS in comments (and man, do I ever hate those things with a burning passion).

Let me know if you voted so I can thank you and be eternally grateful! :)

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Well, I must say, I've never been on so many field trips in one quarter. Lucky for me, my field trips usually revolve around design (perks of being an interior design student!).

Today's field trip was particularly cool.

Have you heard of Green Depot? It's pretty much a small version of Home Depot, but everything in it is much more sustainable. This store was full of amazing things that are not only beautiful, but earth friendly. Doesn't get much better than that!

Alright, now check out this TOILET. I know you're all going to be pinning that one to your dream house boards now, right?

So compact. So SLEEK. Who doesn't want that toilet on display in their bathroom? Get yours today!

(I'm sorry. I'm done with the sarcasm now. I'm sure it's really great. And earth friendly. And hey, at least there's a stepstool to get onto it since it's like 4 feet off the ground. K now I'm really done with the sarcasm...)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Oh. MY GOSH. I just fell in love. With a cafe. In Australia. Please look at this and appreciate its greatness with me.

There are few things I love more than a little neighborhood cafe. My family and I started a church together a few years ago and we've always loved the idea of decorating it with an eclectic/industrial coffee shop style vibe (how's that for a description?). We love chalkboard walls, industrial lights, vintage things like old pallets...etc.

Monday, February 20, 2012

This weekend was simply a dream. I absolutely love days that are filled to the brim with good things. Simple things like: great conversation with my family. Perfectly foamy coffee. Delighting in Panera for the first time (with my friend Michaela from design school). Laughing at my ridiculous puppy Jack. Spending Sunday helping out at my church and getting psyched about some amazing new opportunities we have.

And one of my favorite parts of the weekend was walking around with my mom and sister and discoveringModern Mercantile, an absolutely adorable vintage shop in Poulsbo!

I have SUCH a love for shops like this. I grew up in Portland which is kind of filled with small homey shops, so stumbling across ones like that in Washington always makes me

Sunday, February 19, 2012

I have yet to meet a soul that wouldn't love a gift from Anthropologie. Do any such people exist?

The thing I love most about Anthropologie is their love for detail. Each product has something distinctly unique about it. I love the extra elements like a little string bow, a cloth tag, stitching on the edges...these special additions are {to me} what make a product worthy of being sold in Anthropologie.

Since I love giving and getting gifts from Anthro, I thought I'd round up some of my favorite affordable gifts from their store. All of which have divine packaging. I wish that all products ever in the world were packaged and designed as well as these. Also, most of these things look like they smell like a dream. Which is kind of my weakness.

Wait, in the title I said ten gift ideas, and I only gave you 9! That's because I want to hear from you! What Anthro gift idea would you want to add to the list?

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Hi everyone, and welcome to my living room! In my previous post, I showed you the bedroom I share with my best friend in my rental house. The living room that I'm showing you today is my absolute favorite room in the house, so I can't wait to show you all!

We were so lucky to find this house last spring. We loved the hardwood floors and all the charm that comes with an old house. And while it's a small, cozy house, it has plenty of room for all six of us to spread out.

Every once in awhile we all get the sudden urge to clean the house top to bottom. This happened last night on Valentine's Day. We blasted some classy Billie Holiday music on Pandora, and spent probably an hour getting the house in order, followed by eating a delicious homemade meal together. And let me tell you...It. Was. Glorious.

This is the dining room, which is connected through an archway to the living room. That chair on the end and I know each other well. It's where I have spent COUNTLESS hours drafting floor plans and elevations for my design studio classes--sometimes until the wee hours of the night I might add.

We use this little chalkboard sign for messages to the house, and it also has each of our prayer requests on the other side.

My best friend's dad made us this gorgeous crackle-painted table out of an old door! We love it. So much.

Diane, my housemate's super crafty mom (and new blogger!!!) made us these cute initial frames, and then we just mixed them up with other frames/art that we had around the house to create a little gallery wall above the couch. Welcome her to blogland if you desire, she's really great!

See that? AN END TABLE. Remember when I talked about how we had no end tables? We now have one. Actually we had it all along, but it was just awkwardly placed by the front door and was kind of in the way. This is a much better spot for it! We need more still by the couches, but one is better than none :)

As most old houses do, it has its quirks (like the shower that has been dripping constantly for the past few days, and the teeny tiny kitchen) But we really love this house and have made some great memories here. I hope you enjoyed that little tour of my favorite room in my house!